When I started surfing my dad took me and my best friend Tim Hannan on our first Baja surfari that included surfing with dolphins, gray whales and riding perfect right point waves.

In 1982 at the age of 18, I took a trip to Michoacan with Imperial Beach Lifeguards Richard Abrams and Jim Sullivan. The waves at Ticla were dreamy 6′-8′ A-frames. We even got chased out of the water by a giant hammerhead shark.

The trip occurred right before I started my freshman year UCSD. Our airline tickets cost $80 roundtrip. They were super cheap because we purchased them just after Mexico’s horrible peso devaluation and prices hadn’t yet been adjusted.

When a bunch of locals, some with pistols tucked in their pants, went on a Mexican Independence Dayborrachera, I got a little nervous. But we got home okay.